UFC Edmonton results: Mike Malott viciously folds Joaquin Buckley; Jasmine Jasudavicius shocks Erin Blanchfield

One mistake was all it took for a highlight reel finish to bring Edmonton to its feet.

Fighting for the seventh straight time in his native Canada, the surging welterweight Mike Malott landed a devastating knee to knock out Joaquin Buckley early in the second round of Saturday night’s UFC Edmonton main event at Rogers Place. It wasn’t just any knockout, either. It was a perfectly timed knee that landed flush on Buckley’s jaw just as he was throwing a left hand. 

Upon impact, Buckley’s mouthpiece came flying out of his mouth as he dropped to the canvas with his legs splayed out — and after a single follow-up punch, referee Marc Goddard called the fight.

“I’m on top of the world right now man, this is incredible,” Malott said, soaking up the crowd’s response to what was his fifth straight victory. “I asked my coaches, ‘That happened for real, right? I’m not about to wake up and it’s fight morning and I just dreamed that? This is real?’”

It turns out it was all too real, just the same as Malott’s rising stock in the UFC’s most stacked division.

It was tough sledding in the first round, as the slight underdog Buckley — who was ranked No. 10 on the UFC’s Meta welterweight rankings coming in — showed poise and patience in landing in boxing range, beautifully countering many of Malott’s high kicks. 

But midway through the second round, Malott (15-2-1) threw the game-changer just as Buckley (21-9) was coming in for offense of his own. The commentators called if a “star-making” shot, and it was the kind of blow that could end up in discussion for knockout of the year come December.  

“Hey guys, I might be soft spoken, but I’m f***ing hard hitting,” Malott said as he watched the replay of the knockout on the big screen.

After thanking the UFC brass for giving him a headlining spot in his home country, Malott was asked if there was anybody he’d like to call out — and as is his custom, he deferred. 

“Come on man, you know that’s not my style to call people out,” he said. “I see a lot of dangerous guys in the top 10, but I keep fighting better and better and more dangerous guys, and my performances keep getting better. So I think that climb is just going to continue.

“Somebody in the top 10 [next] at the very least, maybe top five next, baby, let’s go.” 

With the victory, Malott has made his case for entry into the top 10 at 170 pounds (he was ranked No. 13 on the Meta rankings coming in), following up what was a big TKO win over Gilbert Burns in a headlining spot in Winnipeg. Hailing from Burlington, Ontario, he may be uncomfortable with talks of him being the UFC’s new Georges St-Pierre, but he has earned the distinction of contender. 

The 32-year-old Buckley (21-9) has now lost three fights in a row, after having dropped his previous two decisions against Sean Brady and Kamaru Usman. Buckley made waves on Friday for snubbing Dana White’s offer to shake hands at the ceremonial weigh-ins. 

Before Buckley’s recent skid he had put together an impressive run of six straight victories.

In the night’s co-main event, underdog Jasmine Jasudavicius more than played spoiler in her home country against Erin Blanchfield — she perhaps placed herself in the conversation for the next women’s flyweight title shot.

Using a strong ground game and superior grappling, Jasudavicius (16-4) rode an early lead to sweep the scorecards in what was the biggest victory of her career.

The judges scored the fight 29-28 unanimously in Jasudavicius’ favor. 

With the win, Jasudavicius has now won seven of her last eight fights, while the 27-year-old Blanchfield (14-3) loses for just the second time in her UFC career.

Check out complete UFC Edmonton: Malott vs. Buckley results and highlights below.

Main card

Welterweight: Mike Malott def. Joaquin Buckley via KO at 2:32 (knee and punch) of R2 | Watch finish

Women’s flyweight: Jasmine Jasudavicius def. Erin Blanchfield via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)

Lightweight: Cristian Perez def. Kyle Nelson via KO (punches) at :27 of R1 | Watch finish

Middleweight: Marc-Andre Barriault def. Kyle Daukaus via TKO (elbows) at 4:28 of R1 | Watch finish

Bantamweight: Timmy Cuamba def. Louis Jourdain via submission (neck crank) at 2:48 of R2 | Watch finish

Lightweight: Mandel Nallo def. Nate Landwehr via TKO (leg kicks and punches) at :47 of R2 | Watch finish

Preliminary card

Heavyweight: Tanner Boser def. Jhonata Diniz via TKO (punches) at 4:26 of R3 | Watch finish

Middleweight: Nick Galanti def. Julien Leblanc via submission (face crank) at 1:26 of R1 | Watch finish

Heavyweight: Joel Faglier def. Javad Mahjoub via TKO (punches) at 2:11 of R2 | Watch finish

Women’s flyweight: Katlyn Cerminara def. Mackenzie Stiller via TKO (punches) at 4:46 of R1 | Watch finish

Bantamweight: Steven Koslow def. Chad Anheliger via submission (rear-naked choke) at 4:31 of R3 | Watch finish

Women’s bantamweight: Chelsea Chandler def. Melissa Croden via submission (kimura) at 4:52 of R1 | Watch finish

Bantamweight: SuYoung You def. Cody Chovancek via submission (kimura) at 4:19 of R3 | Watch finish